Mission
Palmetto & Luna’s mission is to foster an understanding of the Hispanic/Latino culture by promoting artistic creation and providing opportunities for cultural expression for the community in South Carolina.
- Create awareness of the Hispanic/Latino arts and culture in South Carolina.
- Expand the scope of art exhibitions and art education in South Carolina to include Hispanic/Latino artists in order to present more diverse insights and inspiration and the often misunderstood cultural manifestation of Hispanic/Latino artists.
- Help to integrate the rapidly growing Hispanic/Latino population into the mainstream arts community. Promote emerging Hispanic/Latino artists in South Carolina.
- Empower the Hispanic/Latino community through collaborative public art programs.
Past/Ongoing Projects
Palmetto & Luna (P&L) was incorporated on September 8, 2008. Since 2003 the organization has produced a variety of events and programs focused on Hispanic/Latino Art, Culture and Heritage:
Art Exhibitions in South Carolina - Argentinean painter and printmaker Marcelo Novo (2003), German Cuban sculptor Britta Cruz (2003), Colombian painter Alejandro García (2004), Philipino painter Tony Imperial (2004), Mexican-American-Chicano visual artist Ernesto Cuevas, Jr. (2008), Colombian artist Eliana Pérez and Diana Farfán (2009).
InspirARTE - A fundraising event in 2003 and 2004 for the oldest Hispanic/Latino non-profit in South Carolina (Acercamiento Hispano de Carolina del Sur), held at the South Carolina State Museum. InspirARTE successfully created awareness of Hispanic/Latino Art among local non-Hispanic artists in Columbia, SC.
Annual art auctions and children’s art contests in 2003 and 2004.
Book Club - "Páginas" - that focuses on Hispanic/Latino authors. This club was established in 2004 and it is probably the only book club of its kind in the state of South Carolina.
Organizing Spanish speaking groups and providing bilingual docents for the guided tours of the Columbia Museum of Art’s permanent collection and special exhibitions since 2002.
Artist-in-Residence program in Columbia which hosted its first artist in October 2008 - Ernesto Cuevas, an Atlanta-based muralist and painter. Cuevas also gave a presentation of his work – "Immigration Seen through the Lens of a Latino Artist", at the University of South Carolina. The event was hosted in collaboration with the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies (Arnold School of Public Health)
